The End--Nigh?

Well that's just great.

Like many other folks I'm inclined to think that the lead hypothesis for explaining the absence of detectable signals from intelligent species elsewhere in the universe is a technological one. There are optimistic versions--e.g. that there are communicative technologies completely different from radio and t.v. which are typically invented very soon after radio and t.v. are invented. (Never heard anybody else suggest that, but it seems plausible to me.) And there are well-known pessimistic versions--intelligence is actually maladaptive, and intelligent species tend to destroy themselves before or soon after they develop radio and t.v.

Anyway, the link above puts me in mind of those who thought that atomic weapons might ignite the atmosphere, but who went on with the development and testing of those weapons anyway.

Seems unlikely that we'll get away with stuff like this for more than a couple of hundred years...